Siege of Padua (1797)

The Siege of Padua (early February 1797) was a siege of the French Revolutionary Wars that occurred when an army of 1,344 French troops under Barthelemy Catherine Joubert besieged the Venetian city of Padua, defended by 720 troops under Vittorio Emanuele Gemelli. The French army managed to secure the surrender of Padua without firing a shot, as Gemelli and his one regiment of line infantry were not willing to waste lives in a futile battle. The French peacefully occupied the city, allowing for them to set their sights on Venice.